NAME: Guion S. Bluford, Jr. (Colonel, USAF)
NASA Astronaut
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 22, 1942.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Black hair; brown eyes; 6 feet; 180 pounds.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Overbrook Senior High School in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, in 1960; received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace
engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1964; a master of science
degree with distinction in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute
of Technology in 1974; a doctor of philosophy in aerospace engineering with a
minor in laser physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1978, and
a master in business administration from the University of Houston, Clear Lake,
in 1987.
MARITAL STATUS: Married to the former Linda Tull of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
CHILDREN: Guion Stewart III, June 12, 1964; James Trevor, October 25, 1965.
RECREATIONAL INTERESTS: His hobbies include reading, swimming, jogging,
racquetball, handball, and scuba.
ORGANIZATIONS: Associate Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, and member of the Air Force Association, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Iota
Epsilon, National Technical Association, and Tuskegee Airmen.
SPECIAL HONORS: Presented the Leadership Award of Phi Delta Kappa (1962); the
National Defense Service Medal (1965); Vietnam Campaign Medal (1967); Vietnam
Cross of Gallantry with Palm (1967); Vietnam Service Medal (1967); 10 Air Force
Air Medals (1967); 3 Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards (1967, 1970, 1972); the
Germany Air Force Aviation Badge from the Federal Republic of West Germany
(1969); T-38 Instructor Pilot of the Month (1970); Air Training Command
Outstanding Flight Safety Award (1970); an Air Force Commendation Medal (1972);
the Air Force Institute of Technology's Mervin E. Gross Award (1974); Who's Who
Among Black Americans 1975-1977; an Air Force Meritorious Service Award (1978);
National Society of Black Engineers Distinguished National Scientist Award
(1979); two NASA Group Achievement Awards (1980 and 1981); the Pennsylvania
State University Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award (1983), and
Alumni Fellows Award (1986), USAF Command Pilot Astronaut Wings (1983), NASA
Space Flight Medal (1983, 1985, & 1991), Ebony Black Achievement Award (1983),
NAACP Image Award (1983), Who's Who in America (1983), Pennsylvania's
Distinguished Service Medal (1984), Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense
Meritorious Service Medal, the New York City Urban League's Whitney Young
Memorial Award, the 1991 Black Engineer of the Year Award, and honorary
doctorate degrees from Florida A & M University, Texas Southern University,
Virginia State University, Morgan State University, Stevens Institute of
Technology, Tuskegee Institute, Bowie State College, Thomas Jefferson
University, Chicago State University, Georgian Court College, and Drexel
University.
EXPERIENCE: Bluford graduated from Penn State University in 1964 as a
distinguished Air Force ROTC graduate.
He attended pilot training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, and received
his pilot wings in January 1966. He then went to F-4C combat crew training in
Arizona and Florida and was assigned to the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron,
Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. He flew 144 combat missions, 65 of which were over
North Vietnam.
In July 1967, he was assigned to the 3,630th Flying Training Wing, Sheppard Air
Force Base, Texas, as a T-38A instructor pilot. He served as a
standardization/evaluation officer and as an assistant flight commander. In
early 1971, he attended Squadron Officers School and returned as an executive
support officer to the Deputy Commander of Operations and as School Secretary
for the Wing.
In August 1972, he entered the Air Force Institute of Technology residency
school at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Upon graduating in 1974, he
was assigned to the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory at Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base, Ohio, as a staff development engineer. He served as deputy for
advanced concepts for the Aeromechanics Division and as branch chief of the
Aerodynamics and Airframe Branch in the Laboratory. Bluford has written and
presented several scientific papers in the area of computational fluid
dynamics.
He has logged over 5,100 hours jet flight time in the T-33, T-37, T-38, F-4C,
F-15, U-2/TR-1, and F-5A/B, including 1,300 hours as a T-38 instructor pilot.
He also has an FAA commercial pilot license.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Bluford became a NASA astronaut in August 1979. His
technical assignments have included working with the Remote Manipulator System
(RMS), Spacelab-3 experiments, Space Shuttle systems, verifying flight software
in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) and the Flight Systems
Laboratory (FSL), and serving as the Astronaut Office point of contact for
generic Spacelab and Shuttle External Tank issues. A veteran of three space
flights, Bluford was a mission specialist on STS-8 in 1983, STS 61-A in 1985,
and STS-39 in 1991.
Bluford's first mission was STS-8, which launched from Kennedy Space Center,
Florida, on August 30, 1983. This was the third flight for the Orbiter
Challenger and the first mission with a night launch and night landing. During
the mission, the STS-8 crew deployed the Indian National Satellite (INSAT-1B);
operated the Canadian-built RMS with the Payload Flight Test Article (PFTA);
operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) with live cell
samples; conducted medical measurements to understand biophysiological effects
on space flight; and activated various earth resources and space science
experiments along with four "Getaway Special" canisters. STS-8 completed 98
orbits of the Earth in 145 hours before landing at Edwards Air Force Base,
California, on September 5, 1983.
On STS 61-A, the German D-1 Spacelab mission, the crew on board the Orbiter
Challenger launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 30, 1985.
This mission was the first to carry eight crew members, the largest crew to fly
in space ans included three European payload specialists. This was the first
dedicated Spacelab mission under the direction of the German Aerospace Research
Establishment (DFVLR) and the first U.S. mission in which payload control was
transferred to a foreign country (German Space Operations Center,
Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany). During the mission, the Global Low Orbiting
Message Relay Satellite (GLOMR) was deployed from a "Getaway Special" (GAS)
container, and 76 experiments were performed in Spacelab in such fields as
fluid physics, materials processing, life sciences, and navigation. The
experimental test facilities used included melting, solidification, and crystal
growing furnaces, facilities for the observation of fluid physics phenomena,
chambers to provide specific environmental conditions for biological samples,
and a vestibular sled. After completing 111 orbits of the Earth in 169 hours,
Challenger landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on November 6, 1985.
More recently, Bluford served on the crew of STS-39, which launched from the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida on April 28, 1991, aboard the Orbiter, Discovery.
The crew gathered aurora, Earth-limb, celestial, and Shuttle environment data
with the AFP-675 payload. This payload consisted of the Cryogenic infrared
Radiance Instrumentation for Shuttle (CIRRIS-1A) experiment, Far Ultraviolet
Camera experiment (FAR UV), the Uniformly Redundant Array (URA), the Quadruple
Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (QINMS), and the Horizon Ultraviolet Program
(HUP) experiment. The crew also deployed and retrieved the Spas-II with the
RMS. The Spas-II carried the Infrared Background Signature Survey (IBSS)
experiment, which collected Shuttle exhaust plume, Earthlimb, Earthscan,
aurora, chemical/gas release and celestial data. The crew also operated the
Space Test Payload-1 (STP-1) and deployed a classified payload from the
Multi-Purpose Experiment Canister (MPEC). After completing 134 orbits of the
Earth and 199 hours in space, Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center,
Florida on May 6, 1991.
With the completion of his third flight, Bluford logged over 513 hours in
space.
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT: Colonel Bluford is assigned as a mission specialist on the
crew of STS-53, a Department of Defense Mission scheduled for launch in the
fall of 1992.
APRIL 1992